Post Secondary Education in British Columbia

The public Post Secondary Education system in British Columbia consists of five universities, the Open Learning Agency, five institutes, eleven colleges and five university colleges.

The eleven colleges in British Columbia offer a wide variety of programs designed to meet the needs of the local communities. All offer courses in the four main fields of academic, career technical, vocational and adult basic education - including English as a Second Language. In addition, these colleges offer a variety of community programs.

Also offering courses in career technical, vocational, adult based education and selected courses leading to a bachelor's degree are the five university colleges, these work in collaboration with the public universities.

The five Universities are: Royal Roads University, The University of Victoria (both on Vancouver Island), Simon Fraser University is in Burnaby, The University of British Columbia is in Vancouver and The University of Northern British Columbia is situated in Prince George. These five universities of British Columbia provide the majority of degree level education.

There are five institutes that provide specialized programs in technologies and trades, art and design, law enforcement, marine training, and indigenous studies. Four of these institutes are located in and around the vicinity of Vancouver, the fifth one is in Merritt which is close to Kamloops.

There are also Private Post Secondary institutes that offer a wide range of courses in British Columbia. The tuition fee's will be considerably higher for these establishments.

Whilst on the subject of tuition fee's, post secondary studies in Canada are NOT free. To help parents with the cost of tuition, the Canadian Government introduced Registered Education Savings Plan's (RESP).

The British Columbia Student Assistance Program is a joint Program between the Federal and Provincial Government. This is available as a loan for eligible students to assist with the costs of post secondary studies at colleges, universities, institutes and private training institutions. These loans will have to be repaid after the course has finished!

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For your convenience, here are links to other relevant pages:

1. Alberta
2. British Columbia
3. BC Post Secondary Education
4. Manitoba
5. New Brunswick

1. Newfoundland and Labrador
2. Nova Scotia
3. Ontario
4. Prince Edward Island
5. Saskatchewan